1 00:00:10,700 --> 00:00:13,200 Hey everyone. Welcome back to the Daily gospel 2 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:15,700 exegesis podcast. We're all about helping. 3 00:00:15,700 --> 00:00:18,600 You understand the Gospel reading from today's mass. 4 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:20,900 So we're really doing a deep dive into the text. 5 00:00:20,900 --> 00:00:23,100 What did it mean in its original context? 6 00:00:23,300 --> 00:00:25,200 How can we understand the words that are used? 7 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:27,000 What's Jesus up to In this passage? 8 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:30,700 So really doing a proper verse by verse and What's this of the 9 00:00:30,700 --> 00:00:33,600 text? And at today's mass, you'll hear 10 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:38,900 this passage from Luke chapter 9, verses 51 to 62. 11 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:44,600 As the time Drew near for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus 12 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:48,200 resolutely took the road for Jerusalem and sent Messengers 13 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:51,900 ahead of him. These set out and they went into 14 00:00:51,900 --> 00:00:54,800 a Samaritan Village to make preparations for him. 15 00:00:55,500 --> 00:00:58,800 But the people would not receive him because he was making for 16 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:02,300 Jerusalem. Seeing this, the disciples 17 00:01:02,300 --> 00:01:05,099 James. And John said, Lord do you want 18 00:01:05,099 --> 00:01:07,600 us to call down fire from heaven to burn them up? 19 00:01:08,500 --> 00:01:11,900 But he turned and rebuked them and they went off to another 20 00:01:11,900 --> 00:01:15,300 Village. As Jesus and his disciples 21 00:01:15,300 --> 00:01:18,000 traveled along. They met a man on the road who 22 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:21,200 said to him I will follow you wherever you go. 23 00:01:21,900 --> 00:01:25,300 Jesus answered. Foxes have holes and the birds 24 00:01:25,300 --> 00:01:29,100 of the air have nests but the son of man has nowhere to lay 25 00:01:29,100 --> 00:01:32,900 his head. Another to whom he said, follow 26 00:01:32,900 --> 00:01:39,100 me replied, let me go and bury my father first but he answered 27 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:41,200 leave the dead to bury their dead. 28 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:45,400 Your duty is to go and spread the news of the kingdom of God. 29 00:01:46,300 --> 00:01:48,800 Another said, I will follow you sir. 30 00:01:49,100 --> 00:01:52,100 But first, let me go and say goodbye to my people at home. 31 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:56,900 Jesus said to him once the hand is laid on the plow. 32 00:01:57,100 --> 00:02:00,500 No one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. 33 00:02:02,900 --> 00:02:05,500 So that's a short passage today. Bit of an interesting one. 34 00:02:06,100 --> 00:02:08,900 Let's start by thinking about the context, so Jesus has been 35 00:02:08,900 --> 00:02:12,400 doing ministry in Galilee and he's been teaching his disciples 36 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:15,200 about important matters. A whole series of different 37 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:18,800 things before setting out for Jerusalem and now we get to a 38 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:22,700 very significant verse in Luke's gospel, which marks quite a big 39 00:02:22,700 --> 00:02:26,200 transition. So, verse 51 as the time Drew 40 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:28,300 near for him to be taken up to heaven. 41 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:31,800 Now, what it actually says The the word Heaven is not in the 42 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:34,200 original. All it says is when the days 43 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:36,600 Drew near for him to be received up. 44 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:40,200 Now, we probably think of the Ascension when we hear that, as 45 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:42,800 in Jesus ascending to heaven. And that's certainly in view, 46 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:46,300 but it seems that the way Luke uses this term to be received 47 00:02:46,300 --> 00:02:50,000 up, would include Jesus, passion, death, resurrection and 48 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:53,100 Ascension. So Jesus knows that his time for 49 00:02:53,100 --> 00:02:55,000 all those things to happen is coming soon. 50 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:57,600 It's Drawing Near. And in fact that's the whole 51 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,500 purpose of his life is to die and then rise again. 52 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:04,300 And Jesus knowing the future knows that that is coming up. 53 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:08,800 Maybe the term taken up here is supposed to make readers think 54 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:12,300 of how Elijah and Moses were both taken up to heaven. 55 00:03:12,900 --> 00:03:15,600 Because Jesus, if you think about it, he's just seen Moses 56 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:18,900 and Elijah at the Transfiguration and Luke's 57 00:03:18,900 --> 00:03:21,800 readers certainly would have been familiar with Moses and 58 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:24,300 Elijah stories about how they were taken up at the end of 59 00:03:24,300 --> 00:03:26,100 their life. So maybe Luke here is 60 00:03:26,100 --> 00:03:30,600 deliberately making a parallel between Moses and Elijah and 61 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:32,300 Jesus. That's certainly possible. 62 00:03:33,900 --> 00:03:37,900 Luke says Jesus resolutely took the road for Jerusalem or what 63 00:03:37,900 --> 00:03:39,400 it actually says there literally is. 64 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:42,100 He set his face to go to Jerusalem. 65 00:03:43,300 --> 00:03:47,000 So Luke tells us that from this point on, Jesus is determined to 66 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:50,100 go to Jerusalem. This is his goal for the next 67 00:03:50,100 --> 00:03:53,200 section of his ministry. Now, there is a lot that still 68 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:55,000 happens. We're only in Luke chapter 9, 69 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:58,700 and it's not till about Luke chapter 19 or 20 that he gets to 70 00:03:58,700 --> 00:04:00,400 Jerusalem. So there's a lot that happens 71 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:03,000 before then. But Luke tells us, this is the 72 00:04:03,100 --> 00:04:07,000 Which basically, Jesus Galilean Ministry is finished, and he's 73 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:09,100 now turning his attention to Jerusalem. 74 00:04:09,300 --> 00:04:13,300 That's his next goal. It seems that Luke is 75 00:04:13,300 --> 00:04:15,300 deliberately describing Jesus attitude. 76 00:04:15,300 --> 00:04:18,000 This way to highlight certain things. 77 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:21,300 So, what it says here in the Greek is he set his face to go 78 00:04:21,300 --> 00:04:24,400 to Jerusalem? Well, similar things are said 79 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:28,900 about Ezekiel and Jeremiah on their mission to preach against 80 00:04:28,900 --> 00:04:31,900 Jerusalem. So in Jeremiah 21 verse 10 and 81 00:04:31,900 --> 00:04:36,600 then Ezekiel one verse to both of them when they're talking 82 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:39,700 about the mission that Jeremiah and Ezekiel are about to go on. 83 00:04:39,900 --> 00:04:44,700 God uses this phrase, set your face towards Jerusalem, so it's 84 00:04:44,700 --> 00:04:47,500 interesting. Jesus is doing the same thing 85 00:04:47,500 --> 00:04:51,800 here and interestingly both of them predict Jerusalem's 86 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:54,200 destruction Ezekiel. And Jeremiah when they go to 87 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:58,200 Jerusalem, they condemn Jerusalem and they predict that 88 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:00,000 it's going to be destroyed. Well, that's basically what 89 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:02,800 Jesus does when he finally gets to Jerusalem as well. 90 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:06,500 There's another explanation though, which is maybe it's 91 00:05:06,500 --> 00:05:09,400 supposed to recall the third Servant Song of Isaiah. 92 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:12,200 So, in Isaiah chapter 50 verse 7. 93 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:14,900 It says, and this is Isaiah speaking. 94 00:05:14,900 --> 00:05:18,900 I have set my face, like a flint knowing that I shall not be put 95 00:05:18,900 --> 00:05:22,300 to shame. So, maybe one of those passages 96 00:05:22,300 --> 00:05:24,900 from the great prophets, is what Luke has in mind here when he's 97 00:05:24,900 --> 00:05:29,700 drawing a parallel with Jesus, Now, this begins What's called 98 00:05:29,700 --> 00:05:32,900 the travel narrative and Luke. So this next part of Luke's 99 00:05:32,900 --> 00:05:36,000 gospel is collectively called the travel narrative or 100 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:39,000 sometimes called the ministry to Judea and perea. 101 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:42,100 And that actually takes up about 40% of Luke's gospel. 102 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:47,100 So here, in Luke 9:51, we're starting a new big section of 103 00:05:47,100 --> 00:05:50,200 Luke that takes up 40% of Luke's gospel, and it will take us 104 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:52,700 quite a few weeks to get through this travel narrative. 105 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:56,300 Basically, for the next 10 chapters Jesus is going to be on 106 00:05:56,300 --> 00:06:00,000 the way to Jerusalem. And everything that happens in 107 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:02,200 the next ten, chapters is on the road to Jerusalem. 108 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:06,300 So he's traveling if you look at a map he's traveling from 109 00:06:06,300 --> 00:06:09,700 Galilee in the north to Judea in the South where Jerusalem is. 110 00:06:09,700 --> 00:06:13,300 And there's a region between Galilee and Judea and that 111 00:06:13,300 --> 00:06:17,100 region is called Samaria where the Samaritans live and that's 112 00:06:17,100 --> 00:06:20,000 not actually a Jewish territory the people that live there. 113 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:21,700 The Samaritans are not really Jewish. 114 00:06:21,700 --> 00:06:25,300 The Samaritans did not like the Jews and the Jews did not like 115 00:06:25,300 --> 00:06:28,900 the Samaritans, interestingly there's a Lot of material in 116 00:06:28,900 --> 00:06:30,800 these next. Ten chapters that are unique to 117 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:32,800 look. Matthew and Mark, only have 118 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:37,000 about one chapter on this entire period of heading towards 119 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:39,400 Jerusalem, but Luke has 10 chapters. 120 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:41,400 So we're going to see a lot of interesting stuff here in the 121 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:44,000 coming chapters that you won't hear in any of the other 122 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:47,100 gospels. So, Luke tells us in verse 52, 123 00:06:47,100 --> 00:06:51,200 he sent Messengers ahead of him. So it looks like, what's going 124 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:52,600 on here that? Well, there's two possible 125 00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:55,300 explanations. Jesus knows what direction he's 126 00:06:55,300 --> 00:06:56,900 going. He knows what towns he wants to 127 00:06:56,900 --> 00:06:59,300 go into. And it looks like he wants 128 00:06:59,300 --> 00:07:02,900 certain towns. Particularly non-jewish ones to 129 00:07:02,900 --> 00:07:05,700 hear the gospel at least once before he arrives. 130 00:07:05,700 --> 00:07:07,500 And remember, he's already done this a couple of times. 131 00:07:07,500 --> 00:07:10,600 He's already sent the disciples out on Mission and now it's kind 132 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:13,600 of a similar thing again. He's sending Messengers ahead of 133 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:16,800 him to these towns maybe so that these challenges are more 134 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:19,000 prepared to receive it when he does arrive. 135 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:21,700 And that makes sense. Because these Samaritan towns, 136 00:07:21,700 --> 00:07:24,900 particularly probably don't know a lot about the kingdom of God 137 00:07:24,900 --> 00:07:28,000 because they don't have the same Old Testament as the Jews. 138 00:07:28,100 --> 00:07:31,700 Ooh, so they probably need more information before Jesus 139 00:07:31,700 --> 00:07:33,700 arrived. So, Jesus, in an act of 140 00:07:33,700 --> 00:07:37,300 compassion, is planning to send some messages there to the 141 00:07:37,300 --> 00:07:40,400 Samaritan town so that they're more prepared when he, when he 142 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:43,100 himself arrives. So, in a sense, he of these 143 00:07:43,100 --> 00:07:45,900 Messengers, probably some of the Twelve Apostles, they're 144 00:07:45,900 --> 00:07:48,200 continuing the message of John the Baptist. 145 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:53,000 If you look at 7:27 of Luke, you talks about John the Baptist 146 00:07:53,700 --> 00:07:58,000 being sent before Jesus face to prepare people for Jesus. 147 00:07:58,200 --> 00:07:59,900 This message. So that's what these Messengers 148 00:07:59,900 --> 00:08:01,500 are doing. Now, the John, the Baptist is 149 00:08:01,500 --> 00:08:05,900 gone now, more literally, it actually says here, he sent 150 00:08:05,900 --> 00:08:09,200 Messengers before his face. So again, this language of face 151 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:12,700 is being echoed. Their these set out and went 152 00:08:12,700 --> 00:08:16,400 into a Samaritan Village. Now, this makes sense, because, 153 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:19,000 as we said before, Samaria would be the main region. 154 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:21,300 They're traveling through to get to Jerusalem. 155 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:25,400 Interestingly most Jews would not travel through Samaria. 156 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:28,400 They were deliberately go. The long way around to avoid 157 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:30,900 going through Samaria because the Jews did not. 158 00:08:30,900 --> 00:08:33,400 Like the Samaritans, the Samaritans did not like the Jews 159 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:35,700 and there's some historical reasons for that which we've 160 00:08:35,700 --> 00:08:38,500 talked about in other episodes. But basically, it comes down to 161 00:08:38,900 --> 00:08:41,600 in the Old Testament, there's a period where the people in 162 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:45,500 Samaria, intermixed with Gentile races and they ended up 163 00:08:45,500 --> 00:08:48,700 worshipping false idols. And you can see that in Second 164 00:08:48,700 --> 00:08:53,100 Kings 17 verse 24. So the resulting offspring, and 165 00:08:53,100 --> 00:08:56,600 now called Samaritans in the time of Jesus and they're kind 166 00:08:56,600 --> 00:09:00,700 of considered to be not proper Jews by the Jews of Galilee and 167 00:09:00,700 --> 00:09:04,400 Judea because the Samaritans don't have the same worship 168 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:08,800 practices but Jesus in this case has no problem with going sus 169 00:09:08,900 --> 00:09:12,100 through Samaria he wants the Samaritans to hear the gospel to 170 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:16,500 so these set out and they went into a Samaritan Village to make 171 00:09:16,500 --> 00:09:20,100 preparations for him. So as we said earlier, maybe the 172 00:09:20,100 --> 00:09:23,200 reason Jesus sends Messengers is for theological reasons to get 173 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:25,500 them ready for the Theology of the kingdom of God. 174 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:28,900 But it could also be that he's just sending Messengers out to 175 00:09:28,900 --> 00:09:32,100 find a place for him to stay. He's kind of looking for a spot 176 00:09:32,100 --> 00:09:36,500 where they can all stay in this. Samaritan Village verse 53 but 177 00:09:36,500 --> 00:09:39,500 the people would not receive him because he was making for 178 00:09:39,500 --> 00:09:41,700 Jerusalem. And again, what it literally 179 00:09:41,700 --> 00:09:45,000 says he is because his Swissair towards Jerusalem. 180 00:09:45,700 --> 00:09:47,900 So it seems the Samaritans in this town. 181 00:09:48,100 --> 00:09:51,400 They don't approve of someone staying in their Village. 182 00:09:51,500 --> 00:09:54,900 If this person is just using it as a pit stop on the way to 183 00:09:54,900 --> 00:09:56,900 Jerusalem. They're not okay with that 184 00:09:57,100 --> 00:09:59,800 because the Samaritans worshipped on Mount gerizim, 185 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:03,100 they believe that was the true place of worship and so Jews, 186 00:10:03,300 --> 00:10:06,600 who insisted on Jerusalem, being the proper place of worship. 187 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:10,100 They did not appreciate that. Also, when Jews came along and 188 00:10:10,100 --> 00:10:13,200 said we're going to Jerusalem, they weren't happy about it. 189 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:16,700 So in this case, this town of Samaritans decides, we're not 190 00:10:16,700 --> 00:10:19,200 going to let this man stay here now, obviously, they don't 191 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:22,600 realize is the Messiah. They just think is another do on 192 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:25,000 his way to Jerusalem, so they don't let him stay there. 193 00:10:25,900 --> 00:10:27,300 It's an interesting example, isn't it? 194 00:10:27,300 --> 00:10:30,800 It's an entire Village who collectively doesn't let Jesus 195 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:35,100 come in, they reject Jesus. That's exactly what Nazareth did 196 00:10:35,100 --> 00:10:38,000 in Luke chapter 4, at the start of the Galilean Ministry. 197 00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:42,200 Jesus was rejected by Nazareth and here we have at the start of 198 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:46,100 what we could call the Judy. History, a town rejecting Jesus 199 00:10:46,100 --> 00:10:48,200 again. So maybe Luke is placed these 200 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:50,800 incidents at the start of the two sections to make a point, 201 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:53,800 which is that no matter where Jesus goes, he's always met with 202 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:59,600 resistance verse 54 seeing this, the disciples James, and John. 203 00:10:59,900 --> 00:11:03,300 So, these are the fishermen sons of Zebedee and their part of 204 00:11:03,300 --> 00:11:06,900 Jesus, in a circle, they know Jesus very well and they 205 00:11:06,900 --> 00:11:09,300 actually get the nicknames sons of thunder. 206 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:12,200 And you can see that in Mark chapter 3 there called sons of 207 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:14,000 thunder. Why are they called that? 208 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:15,900 Well, we're not given an explanation but it's probably 209 00:11:15,900 --> 00:11:18,500 because of their boldness. And we're going to see that in 210 00:11:18,500 --> 00:11:21,500 this very next verse, we're going to see why there while 211 00:11:21,500 --> 00:11:24,700 they're known as being bold. So seeing this, the disciples 212 00:11:24,700 --> 00:11:26,800 James and John. They're not happy that the town 213 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:29,100 is rejected, Jesus, and they're trying to protect him. 214 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:33,200 So they say, Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven 215 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:36,600 to burn them up? Now, we see, this is ridiculous, 216 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:39,600 but we need to keep a few things in mind here, particularly the 217 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:43,200 Old Testament context, James, and John by now. 218 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:45,600 Realize that they he's anointed Apostle. 219 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:49,800 So they do have genuine power, they get to share in Jesus power 220 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:51,800 and Mission. So they believe that the 221 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:54,700 appropriate response for towns who reject the message of the 222 00:11:54,700 --> 00:11:57,900 kingdom and particularly those who outright reject their Master 223 00:11:57,900 --> 00:12:01,400 Jesus, they think the best thing to happen in that case is for 224 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:03,300 the village to be punished by God. 225 00:12:03,900 --> 00:12:07,900 So these people James and John, they have genuine Zeal for the 226 00:12:07,900 --> 00:12:11,200 message of the Kingdom, but of course, they lack of Mercy. 227 00:12:12,700 --> 00:12:15,300 Now, there's more to it, those some manuscripts here, actually 228 00:12:15,300 --> 00:12:18,600 say a bit more, they say, Lord, do you want us to call down, 229 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:21,900 fire from heaven, to burn them up as Elijah did. 230 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:25,400 Now, that would make sense if that's the correct reading. 231 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:28,300 Because in the Old Testament, there is an incident where 232 00:12:28,300 --> 00:12:31,200 Elijah calls down fire from heaven. 233 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:34,200 Not probably not the incident. You're thinking of where the 234 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:38,400 sacrifice is burned up. When the other Pagan priests are 235 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:40,000 around. We're all familiar with that 236 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:41,700 one, but this is actually a different story. 237 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:45,800 Logical is down, fire from heaven, to consume Messengers 238 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:47,800 that are sent from the king of Samaria. 239 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:51,300 So, the king of Samaria sends Messengers and a larger calls 240 00:12:51,300 --> 00:12:54,300 down fire from heaven. That's in Second Kings one. 241 00:12:54,700 --> 00:12:58,800 So, given that maybe James and John here, see themselves in a 242 00:12:58,808 --> 00:13:02,400 parallel position. Maybe they think of Elijah in 243 00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:05,200 terms of the way he was preaching the kingdom of God in 244 00:13:05,208 --> 00:13:08,900 his own day and they them self. And now preaching the fullness 245 00:13:08,900 --> 00:13:11,700 of the kingdom of God and given that Elijah can call down. 246 00:13:11,900 --> 00:13:15,500 Fire from heaven, and it makes sense for them to be able to 247 00:13:15,500 --> 00:13:18,300 call down fire from heaven on those that reject the kingdom 248 00:13:19,100 --> 00:13:21,900 and maybe they see themselves as particularly continuing in the 249 00:13:21,908 --> 00:13:25,600 role of John, the Baptist John, the Baptist is dead now but John 250 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:28,500 the Baptist was known as being in the spirit and power of 251 00:13:28,500 --> 00:13:30,500 Elijah. Luke chapter one, specifically 252 00:13:30,500 --> 00:13:33,500 said that so maybe James and John say, well, John the Baptist 253 00:13:33,500 --> 00:13:35,300 is gone. He was the one who represented 254 00:13:35,300 --> 00:13:37,200 Elijah. Maybe we should take on the 255 00:13:37,208 --> 00:13:39,000 role. Now of representing Elijah, 256 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:41,700 there's a whole theme of Elijah running through this section. 257 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:44,400 Which is interesting because Elijah did just show up at the 258 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:47,000 Transfiguration, so maybe Luke is highlighting that. 259 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:50,400 Now, what's interesting about this, when they sail, or do you 260 00:13:50,408 --> 00:13:53,700 want us to call down, fire from heaven, Jesus doesn't deny that 261 00:13:53,700 --> 00:13:57,300 they have the power to do that. Now, if you think about it, 262 00:13:57,300 --> 00:14:00,600 Jesus himself would have had that power because he's Jesus 263 00:14:00,900 --> 00:14:04,200 and given that the apostles do have a share in Jesus, divine 264 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:07,500 power, certainly we know that they able to do healings and 265 00:14:07,500 --> 00:14:10,800 exorcisms as a result of the special share of power, they get 266 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:13,500 from Jesus, Maybe it's reasonable to think that they 267 00:14:13,500 --> 00:14:15,400 could actually call down fire from heaven. 268 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:17,500 It's possible that they could do that. 269 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:22,900 If they wanted to, but verse 55, Jesus turned and rebuked them. 270 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:26,500 So, Jesus determines that in this case, it's not appropriate 271 00:14:26,500 --> 00:14:30,500 to call down fire from heaven. Not that the town isn't worthy 272 00:14:30,500 --> 00:14:33,700 of judgment necessarily. In fact, in chapter 10, in the 273 00:14:33,700 --> 00:14:37,500 next chapter, Jesus gives warnings to towns for rejecting 274 00:14:37,500 --> 00:14:39,700 him, that's in chapter 10, verses 10 to 11. 275 00:14:39,700 --> 00:14:43,500 So it's acceptable for For the town's to be warned. 276 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:46,300 But he says that in this case, it's not acceptable for the town 277 00:14:46,300 --> 00:14:48,700 to be destroyed. This is not the time for 278 00:14:48,700 --> 00:14:51,600 Destruction. So Jesus doesn't want to give 279 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:53,500 the wrong impression of what his mission is about. 280 00:14:53,500 --> 00:14:56,600 It's not about destruction. He makes clear through his 281 00:14:56,600 --> 00:14:58,600 Parables. That one day, there will be a 282 00:14:58,608 --> 00:15:01,100 judgment where villages will be judged. 283 00:15:01,100 --> 00:15:03,900 Remember all the passages where Jesus says it will be more 284 00:15:03,900 --> 00:15:07,500 tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah on these days than for 285 00:15:07,500 --> 00:15:09,700 Capernaum. So he does actually say that one 286 00:15:09,700 --> 00:15:11,600 day Villages that reject him will. 287 00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:16,100 Be judged, but he's clear through his Parables that that's 288 00:15:16,100 --> 00:15:19,400 in the future, not while he's on Earth. 289 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:23,700 So once again here the disciples have misunderstood the nature of 290 00:15:23,700 --> 00:15:27,000 Jesus mission. As they often do Jesus is going 291 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:28,700 to soon, teach them to help. Make it clear. 292 00:15:28,700 --> 00:15:30,000 He's going to teach you societal. 293 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:34,100 Ills, that they need to love and extend Mercy to their enemies 294 00:15:34,100 --> 00:15:35,600 and that would include the Samaritans. 295 00:15:35,900 --> 00:15:38,400 So if you look later in chapter 10, that's exactly what he's 296 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:42,600 going to say. Now, some manuscripts, you have 297 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:45,500 an extra part. So it says here, Jesus turned 298 00:15:45,500 --> 00:15:47,700 and rebuked them. And then some manuscripts, add, 299 00:15:47,700 --> 00:15:51,400 you do not know what manner of spirit you are for the son of 300 00:15:51,408 --> 00:15:54,700 man came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them. 301 00:15:54,900 --> 00:15:58,600 This is an interesting saying of Jesus, which we often forget 302 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:00,000 about. Now it may not have been in the 303 00:16:00,008 --> 00:16:03,600 original, so there's a lot of textual dispute about is this 304 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:06,300 supposed to be in there or not? But it's an interesting saying 305 00:16:06,300 --> 00:16:08,900 of Jesus. The son of man came not to 306 00:16:08,900 --> 00:16:10,300 destroy men's lives. Lives. 307 00:16:10,300 --> 00:16:13,300 But to save them. So this certainly adds further 308 00:16:13,300 --> 00:16:16,300 support to what we just said, Jesus doesn't want the village 309 00:16:16,300 --> 00:16:20,000 to be destroyed yet because while he's still alive and in 310 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:23,200 fact, while the kingdom is still expanding any time before the 311 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:27,200 consummation. So, including now Jesus says he 312 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:29,400 wants people's lives to be saved. 313 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:32,000 Not destroyed. So, Jesus wants to ensure 314 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:35,000 basically that the maximum number of people come to 315 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:37,000 repentance that seemed to be what he's saying. 316 00:16:37,400 --> 00:16:39,800 And if you think about it, if people are killed or destroyed 317 00:16:39,900 --> 00:16:41,700 Freud is the word Jesus uses here. 318 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:45,200 Then there's no chance for them to repent and Jesus would much 319 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:48,100 prefer that they repent rather than just being killed. 320 00:16:48,500 --> 00:16:50,000 So that's what Jesus is all about. 321 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:52,800 Particularly during his Earthly Ministry, he wants to make sure 322 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:55,300 that the maximum number of people can repent. 323 00:16:55,700 --> 00:16:58,900 So this leads to a possible. Interesting argument. 324 00:16:58,900 --> 00:17:01,600 That could be made against capital punishment because here, 325 00:17:01,700 --> 00:17:04,400 if this was indeed part of the original manuscript and of 326 00:17:04,408 --> 00:17:07,200 course that's disputed. But if it was part of the 327 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:10,700 original manuscript Jesus, he says I've come not Destroy men's 328 00:17:10,700 --> 00:17:13,599 lives, but to save them. And that seems to mean, Jesus 329 00:17:13,599 --> 00:17:17,300 would much prefer that people live and have time to repent 330 00:17:17,500 --> 00:17:19,900 rather than just killing them for doing the wrong thing. 331 00:17:19,900 --> 00:17:23,099 Well, that seems to be a pretty strong argument against capital 332 00:17:23,099 --> 00:17:25,700 punishment. Now obviously there's a lot more 333 00:17:25,700 --> 00:17:27,900 that could be said here and certainly the case is, are not 334 00:17:27,900 --> 00:17:31,400 exactly the same because In this passage the punishment is 335 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:34,100 because they have outright rejected, the message of the 336 00:17:34,100 --> 00:17:35,800 Kingdom. They've rejected Jesus himself, 337 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:38,300 whereas in the case of capital punishment, its civil 338 00:17:38,300 --> 00:17:41,500 governments punishing In some sort of civil crime. 339 00:17:41,500 --> 00:17:45,300 But still there's an interesting theology going on here and it 340 00:17:45,300 --> 00:17:47,800 is, of course, going to come down to whether it was part of 341 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:51,300 the original manuscript or not. And that will be up to biblical 342 00:17:51,300 --> 00:17:54,600 Scholars, to, determine certainly one of the places that 343 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:56,900 we should keep an eye on in the coming years because it might be 344 00:17:56,900 --> 00:17:59,800 something that biblical scholarship can resolve for us. 345 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:02,000 Was this phrase in the original or not? 346 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:07,200 So, verse 56 is the final verse and they went on to another 347 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:10,400 Village and presumably, they're going to a different Samaritan 348 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:14,700 Village, net and nearby one. Jesus would later show Mercy 349 00:18:14,700 --> 00:18:17,100 towards Samaritans and in fact, he's going to praise some 350 00:18:17,100 --> 00:18:19,000 Samaritan. So this is not the last time we 351 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:22,600 hear about the Samaritans in chapter 10, he Praises them. 352 00:18:22,600 --> 00:18:26,800 And then again in chapter 17 we have Samaritans presented in a 353 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:28,800 positive light. And of course, in the book of 354 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:33,100 Acts, many Samaritans do come to Faith, they accept Jesus rather 355 00:18:33,100 --> 00:18:35,200 than reject him. In fact, the Greek word there is 356 00:18:35,300 --> 00:18:36,600 the opposite of what we see here. 357 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:39,800 They do not welcome. Jesus in today's passage, but in 358 00:18:39,900 --> 00:18:42,400 The book of Acts, they welcomed the message of the Kingdom. 359 00:18:43,100 --> 00:18:46,600 So the Samaritans themself go through a bit of a conversion in 360 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:51,300 terms of the kingdom of God, as Jesus and his disciples traveled 361 00:18:51,300 --> 00:18:54,400 along. So they're going From Galilee 362 00:18:54,900 --> 00:18:58,300 down to Jerusalem and there on the road, the probably in the 363 00:18:58,300 --> 00:19:01,300 region of Samaria here or near near there anyway, because 364 00:19:01,300 --> 00:19:03,200 that's where they were in the previous passage. 365 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:06,500 So they're moving towards Jerusalem and we're going to see 366 00:19:06,500 --> 00:19:09,800 here, Jesus, having similar encounters with three different 367 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:12,400 People on the road. Now this probably didn't occur 368 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:15,000 on the same day, these are probably three different 369 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:18,900 encounters Jesus had but because they cover similar topics. 370 00:19:18,900 --> 00:19:20,500 Luke has a group them all together. 371 00:19:20,500 --> 00:19:24,200 In the same story. It says they met a man on the 372 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:28,700 road who said to Jesus, I will follow you wherever you go. 373 00:19:29,300 --> 00:19:31,900 So this man is genuinely interested in Jesus, and he 374 00:19:31,900 --> 00:19:33,700 wants to be a full-time follower. 375 00:19:33,700 --> 00:19:38,700 He says, I will follow you wherever you go verse 58 now. 376 00:19:38,700 --> 00:19:41,100 Jesus probably perceive. It's his thoughts here, and this 377 00:19:41,100 --> 00:19:42,900 is what he says. It's an interesting little 378 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:48,200 Jewish analogy. Foxes have holes and the birds 379 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:52,000 of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay 380 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:55,700 his head. So the point of this little 381 00:19:55,700 --> 00:20:00,500 allegory is something like this animals have homes, but I live a 382 00:20:00,508 --> 00:20:03,900 difficult itinerant life on the road and I don't have a 383 00:20:03,900 --> 00:20:08,300 permanent place to sleep. That's the point he's making and 384 00:20:08,300 --> 00:20:12,100 the implication is that the man wasn't prepared to live. 385 00:20:12,100 --> 00:20:15,500 A rough itinerant life that Jesus and the apostles live and 386 00:20:15,500 --> 00:20:17,900 Jesus knew that. And that's why he said that 387 00:20:17,900 --> 00:20:19,700 little analogy that little metaphor. 388 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:24,800 So that the man knows if you sign up to do This you're going 389 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:27,400 to have to leave pretty rough. That's all there is to the 390 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:29,100 episode. We don't get to find out what 391 00:20:29,100 --> 00:20:31,000 the man said or thought about that. 392 00:20:32,100 --> 00:20:34,600 Many scholars have pointed out that this is a clear passage 393 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:37,300 though, where Jesus does not preach a Prosperity Gospel. 394 00:20:37,300 --> 00:20:39,900 He doesn't say, come with me, and you'll have a great life. 395 00:20:39,900 --> 00:20:42,300 He says the actual opposite here, and that's quite an issue. 396 00:20:42,300 --> 00:20:47,800 An interesting point verse 59, another to whom he said, follow 397 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:50,000 me. So, this is a second person. 398 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:53,100 Probably much later on. Jesus Takes the initiative with 399 00:20:53,100 --> 00:20:56,200 the second person. He says, follow me, he wants 400 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:59,700 this person to follow him now. Even that is pretty remarkable. 401 00:20:59,700 --> 00:21:03,400 Because in that culture, you Only the followers chose the 402 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:07,400 rabbi not the other way around. Jesus here is choosing people 403 00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:09,900 that he wants to follow him and that in itself is pretty 404 00:21:09,900 --> 00:21:12,100 radical. Here's what the person says 405 00:21:12,100 --> 00:21:15,100 though, let me go and bury my father first. 406 00:21:16,300 --> 00:21:20,200 Now, bearing relatives was a sacred Duty in Judaism, you did 407 00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:23,000 need to bury your relatives, you are obliged to do that. 408 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:26,300 You can see that in Exodus chapter 20, it's an extension of 409 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:29,600 the commandment to honor your mother and father and also also 410 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:33,500 in Tobit, Chapter 4 verses Three to four, which is in Catholic 411 00:21:33,500 --> 00:21:35,700 Bibles. There's some passages in there 412 00:21:35,700 --> 00:21:39,100 about the importance of looking, after your parents in their old 413 00:21:39,100 --> 00:21:40,900 age and burying them when they die. 414 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:45,200 So the man here is basically saying, once my father has 415 00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:49,000 passed away and I have taken care of that, then I can devote 416 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:52,600 myself to following Jesus for time now. 417 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:56,200 It seems unlikely that the Man's father has died yet because 418 00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:59,500 otherwise, the man will probably be at home helping with the 419 00:21:59,500 --> 00:22:03,900 burial, but it seems like he His father will pass away soon. 420 00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:08,800 Alternatively, some Scholars have looked at this and thought 421 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:10,200 that it means something a little different. 422 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:13,900 Maybe when the man says, let me go and bury my father, first 423 00:22:13,900 --> 00:22:17,000 maybe that's a Jewish way of saying, I need to take care of 424 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:20,500 my aging father until he dies and in that case is not 425 00:22:20,500 --> 00:22:23,000 envisioning that his father will die anytime soon. 426 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:25,800 It's just a way of saying, I need to look after my old 427 00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:27,800 father. Now, if that's what the man 428 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:31,400 means, it's more of an excuse, his saying this, as a way of 429 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:34,900 getting out of following Jesus and it's would give him in the 430 00:22:35,100 --> 00:22:37,700 Indefinite Delay from following Jesus. 431 00:22:37,700 --> 00:22:39,400 So it's quite an effective excuse. 432 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:42,800 If it's true verse 60, Jesus answered. 433 00:22:42,900 --> 00:22:45,000 Leave the dead to bury their dead. 434 00:22:45,500 --> 00:22:48,500 Pretty strong words, there or leave the dead to bury their own 435 00:22:48,500 --> 00:22:49,700 dead. There's probably a better 436 00:22:49,700 --> 00:22:52,500 translation there. Now, to understand this thing 437 00:22:52,500 --> 00:22:55,500 that Jesus is saying, we need to understand the different ways 438 00:22:55,500 --> 00:22:59,200 that Jesus is using dead. In this single sentence, the 439 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:02,200 word dead appears twice, but Jesus uses it to mean two 440 00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:04,000 different things in the same sentence. 441 00:23:04,100 --> 00:23:07,100 It's actually quite a clever. Rephrase basically, when he 442 00:23:07,100 --> 00:23:10,800 says, Let the dead bury their own dead, he's basically saying 443 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:14,900 let those who are spiritually dead bury their dead, and the 444 00:23:14,908 --> 00:23:17,500 spiritually dead would be those who are not following him. 445 00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:21,800 In other words, in this case, the rest of the Man's family are 446 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:24,400 not Believers. So they're spiritually dead. 447 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:27,600 And Jesus says, well, they can bury his father when he dies 448 00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:31,000 rather than this man, this man is needed here in proclaiming 449 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:33,700 the gospel. Some have thought there might 450 00:23:33,700 --> 00:23:37,400 also be a reference here when Jesus Calls the rest of the 451 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:39,900 Man's family. The dead, maybe he's considering 452 00:23:39,900 --> 00:23:43,600 all of Israel is dead because he knows that there's an impending 453 00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:48,200 judgment coming on Israel. In 70 AD elsewhere in Luke Jesus 454 00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:51,900 talks about how he knows that Israel will soon be destroyed. 455 00:23:51,900 --> 00:23:57,000 So, Luke 13 verse 35, and Luke 19 verse 41 to 44. 456 00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:01,200 It's this idea that the Jews as a whole, would soon be dead in 457 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:03,800 quotation marks. Not All of them, but a large 458 00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:05,300 portion of them would be wiped out. 459 00:24:05,300 --> 00:24:07,600 So, maybe that's behind Jesus reasoning here. 460 00:24:07,900 --> 00:24:10,100 I think the best explanation, that would be to say that he's 461 00:24:10,100 --> 00:24:13,200 thinking of dead to mean, spiritually, dead at those who 462 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:16,800 are not following him. Now, this is pretty radical, 463 00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:20,000 he's saying to the men, no, don't go and bury your dad. 464 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:23,000 Come with me instead at that time. 465 00:24:23,100 --> 00:24:24,800 Only. There was only a small group of 466 00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:28,800 Jews who were not obliged to bury their parents and that was 467 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:31,900 a group called The nazarites they were basically consecrated 468 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:34,000 juice. It's kind of, like, monks they 469 00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:36,400 were exempt from the obligation to bury their parents. 470 00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:40,500 We see that in Numbers chapter 6 in particular, the fact that 471 00:24:40,500 --> 00:24:44,100 Jesus says to this man who is not a Nazarite apparently, he 472 00:24:44,100 --> 00:24:46,400 says no, don't bury your dead, come with me. 473 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:50,400 That indicates the extraordinary importance of, Christ's call to 474 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:53,000 discipleship. During his ministry, his 475 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:56,300 followers are called to be set apart in quite a radical way to 476 00:24:56,300 --> 00:25:00,500 serve in God's Kingdom. Now Jesus is not undermining the 477 00:25:00,500 --> 00:25:04,900 propriety of burial, but his using what the man said as a 478 00:25:04,900 --> 00:25:08,400 stepping stone to illustrate the higher demands of the Christian 479 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:11,400 Life. Indeed, the church actually 480 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:13,800 considers burial. A Corporal Works of Mercy. 481 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:17,400 If you look at the catechism paragraph, 2447 it's pretty 482 00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:20,000 clear that burying the dead is a good thing and Jesus is not 483 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:22,100 teaching here that you shouldn't bury your dead. 484 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:25,700 He clarifies it with this second half of the sentence. 485 00:25:25,700 --> 00:25:29,300 He says, your duty is to go and spread the news of the kingdom 486 00:25:29,300 --> 00:25:32,000 of God. So this man that he speaking to 487 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:35,600 is a Believer, so that man should have a higher priority, 488 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:39,300 which is to serve the kingdom of God by following Jesus, and 489 00:25:39,300 --> 00:25:40,700 spreading the message. The Kingdom. 490 00:25:41,100 --> 00:25:44,900 So here, as in other places, Jesus emphasizes the allegiance 491 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:48,700 that allegiance to him takes priority, even over family 492 00:25:48,700 --> 00:25:50,400 bonds. That's actually a pretty common 493 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:52,600 teaching of Jesus in the gospels. 494 00:25:53,100 --> 00:25:56,600 So, if this man who is a Believer already were to choose 495 00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:59,600 his family, over his obligation, to preach, the kingdom. 496 00:25:59,900 --> 00:26:02,200 That will be quite serious. You'll be avoiding quite a 497 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:05,400 serious obligation. We need to keep in mind that 498 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:08,900 Jesus is thinking particularly of the time period of his own 499 00:26:08,900 --> 00:26:11,500 Ministry while he's He's walking the Earth and we'll talk more 500 00:26:11,500 --> 00:26:14,200 about that as we come to the last couple of verses here. 501 00:26:15,300 --> 00:26:19,500 Verse 61, another person said I will follow you sir or I Will 502 00:26:19,500 --> 00:26:22,500 Follow You Lord. So here comes a man who 503 00:26:22,500 --> 00:26:25,900 acknowledges that Jesus should be followed and he intends to 504 00:26:25,900 --> 00:26:27,700 do. So he says I will follow you. 505 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:31,800 But first let me go and say goodbye to my people at home. 506 00:26:33,100 --> 00:26:35,900 So this man is thinking logically, he knows that he's 507 00:26:35,900 --> 00:26:38,900 going to be gone for some time when he follows Jesus around. 508 00:26:38,900 --> 00:26:41,700 So he wants the opportunity. You to say goodbye to his people 509 00:26:41,700 --> 00:26:45,200 first, and that's actually a fairly reasonable request. 510 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:49,900 In fact, if you look at 1 Kings, chapter 19, verse 20, when 511 00:26:49,900 --> 00:26:53,800 Elijah called Alicia Alicia, said the exact same thing. 512 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:58,500 He said, let me go and say goodbye to my parents first. 513 00:26:58,500 --> 00:27:02,100 And interestingly, at the time Alicia was plowing and the 514 00:27:02,100 --> 00:27:04,300 plowing thing is going to be quite important in the next 515 00:27:04,300 --> 00:27:09,200 verse and Elijah actually, let's Alicia go and do that, but here 516 00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:11,000 Jesus is. Greater than Elijah. 517 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:14,600 So Jesus doesn't allow well as far as we know, he doesn't allow 518 00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:17,900 the man to go and say goodbye to his parents and that in itself 519 00:27:17,900 --> 00:27:22,600 is an indication of how much greater Jesus is than Elijah and 520 00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:26,300 certainly many of Luke's readers would have had the incident from 521 00:27:26,300 --> 00:27:29,600 1 Kings, 19 with Elijah and Elisha at the front of their 522 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:32,000 minds. They heard this man say this so 523 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:34,900 he says let me go and say goodbye to my people at home. 524 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:39,600 The issue here is that Jesus doesn't have time to hang around 525 00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:42,200 and wait. For this one man to go to his 526 00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:44,800 parents and then come back. Jesus has to keep moving. 527 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:47,800 There isn't time for that particularly because Jesus is 528 00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:50,000 getting towards the end of his ministry now. 529 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:54,200 So it's not that he doesn't think the man should be given an 530 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:56,700 opportunity to say goodbye to his parents in general, that 531 00:27:56,700 --> 00:27:59,100 will be okay. It's just that Jesus has an 532 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:01,000 urgency of his mission at this point. 533 00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:06,300 So given the context he says it would not be okay for the man to 534 00:28:06,300 --> 00:28:09,800 go back and do that verse 62. Here's what he says about this. 535 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:14,600 Man, once the hand is laid on the plow, no one who looks back 536 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:18,800 is fit for the kingdom of God, a better translation of this would 537 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:23,000 be no one who puts his hand to the plow, and looks back is fit 538 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:25,700 for the kingdom of God. So this is an agricultural 539 00:28:25,700 --> 00:28:29,400 metaphor in that culture. A plow was a device that was 540 00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:32,600 used to gather grain. Once someone had set themselves 541 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:35,300 up on the plow, they would put their hand on the plow and then 542 00:28:35,300 --> 00:28:37,600 start pushing it. They'd start moving forward and 543 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:39,900 they would concentrate on moving forward. 544 00:28:39,900 --> 00:28:41,600 I'm watching what they were doing. 545 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:45,100 If the person got distracted and they looked behind them, then 546 00:28:45,100 --> 00:28:47,200 they won't do a very good job of plowing. 547 00:28:47,300 --> 00:28:49,100 The player won't come out straight because they're not 548 00:28:49,100 --> 00:28:51,300 concentrating. So it's actually quite a good 549 00:28:51,300 --> 00:28:54,200 metaphor for serving in the kingdom of God. 550 00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:58,100 So, Jesus is saying that during his lifetime, only Those who 551 00:28:58,100 --> 00:29:01,400 commit themselves fully to following him and serving the 552 00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:03,500 kingdom of God are worthy of the Kingdom. 553 00:29:04,700 --> 00:29:08,500 So people in that time period, while Jesus is Alive, people 554 00:29:08,500 --> 00:29:12,200 cannot follow him half Heartedly or get distracted by other 555 00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:15,100 things in their life, if they're going to follow Jesus, they need 556 00:29:15,100 --> 00:29:17,500 to do it properly. That's Jesus teaching here. 557 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:19,800 You cannot, do it. Half-heartedly otherwise it's 558 00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:23,700 not going to work. These last couple of individuals 559 00:29:23,700 --> 00:29:27,000 that people that Jesus meets here, both you want to go and 560 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:30,000 say goodbye to their family. We shouldn't we should be 561 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:32,500 careful how we interpret this. It's probably not supposed to be 562 00:29:32,500 --> 00:29:36,600 a principle that applies to all times, and all people Jesus is 563 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:40,600 talking in particular about his own Earthly Ministry, while 564 00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:43,800 Jesus is alive, and walking the Earth, those who feel called to 565 00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:47,200 follow him, have to do that. He's only going to be with them 566 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:51,100 for a short time. That does not mean that in all 567 00:29:51,100 --> 00:29:53,100 times. Christian Believers should 568 00:29:53,100 --> 00:29:54,800 neglect their parents or families. 569 00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:57,800 Clearly, Jesus does not want that he's thinking, particularly 570 00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:01,700 of, when he's alive. So, in each of the three people 571 00:30:01,700 --> 00:30:03,500 we've seen in each of, the three cases. 572 00:30:04,100 --> 00:30:07,500 The individuals are unnamed. Jesus calls all of them to 573 00:30:07,500 --> 00:30:10,100 follow him. All three of them faced some 574 00:30:10,100 --> 00:30:13,500 sort of mental reservation and in all three cases, we don't 575 00:30:13,500 --> 00:30:15,600 find out the outcome. We don't know what happened to 576 00:30:15,608 --> 00:30:18,200 them. Luke might have deliberately 577 00:30:18,900 --> 00:30:21,900 Sort of written it this way, or focused on it in this way. 578 00:30:22,100 --> 00:30:25,600 So that his own readers could reflect on their own lives and 579 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:27,500 priorities, in terms of the kingdom. 580 00:30:27,700 --> 00:30:30,400 And certainly there's lessons here for us as well in terms of 581 00:30:31,100 --> 00:30:35,800 how we prioritize the kingdom. So let's finish the today with 582 00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:39,200 two quick, catechism references which linked to Luke chapter 9. 583 00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:43,500 So, paragraph 557, this is the catechism describing Jesus 584 00:30:43,500 --> 00:30:47,100 journey to Jerusalem when the days Drew near for him to be 585 00:30:47,100 --> 00:30:51,300 taken up Jesus, set his face to go to Jerusalem by this 586 00:30:51,300 --> 00:30:53,300 decision. He indicated that he was going 587 00:30:53,300 --> 00:30:57,100 up to Jerusalem, prepare to die there, three times. 588 00:30:57,100 --> 00:30:59,400 He had announced his passion and Resurrection. 589 00:31:00,100 --> 00:31:03,600 Now heading towards Jerusalem, Jesus says, it cannot. 590 00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:07,000 Be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem. 591 00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:11,100 So here you see the catechism linking up a few different 592 00:31:11,100 --> 00:31:14,500 passages, which talk about Jesus decision to go to Jerusalem and 593 00:31:14,500 --> 00:31:18,700 of course a key one of that is from Luke chapter 9 here and 594 00:31:18,700 --> 00:31:21,600 then a short one about Jesus, our own experience in paragraph. 595 00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:25,400 Five, for for Jesus shares. The life of the poor from the 596 00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:29,600 cradle to the Cross. He experiences hunger thirst and 597 00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:32,200 privation. And we certainly see that In 598 00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:35,500 this passage here when he says, I have nowhere to lay my head, 599 00:31:35,500 --> 00:31:38,000 he's actually quite a poor person for most of his life. 600 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:40,800 And thanks for listening today. I hope you have learned 601 00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:42,500 something new. It's a bit of a longer passage 602 00:31:42,500 --> 00:31:45,900 today but we're beginning. Quite a significant section in 603 00:31:45,900 --> 00:31:48,600 the Gospel of Luke. Hopefully, you'll tune in again 604 00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:49,100 tomorrow.